The Crow: Salvation
| starring = Eric Mabius Kirsten Dunst Jodi Lyn O'Keefe Fred Ward | music = Marco Beltrami | cinematography = Carolyn Chen | editing = Howard E. Smith | studio = IMF Edward R. Pressman Film Corporation Jeff Most Productions Pacifica Film Development | distributor = Dimension Films | released = | runtime = 102 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $10,000,000 }}The Crow: Salvation'' is a 2000 American fantasy action film directed by Bharat Nalluri. Starring Eric Mabius as Alex Corvis and the third installment of ''The Crow'' film series, based on the comic book character of the same name by James O'Barr. After its distributor cancelled the intended wide theatrical release due to The Crow: City of Angels' negative critical reception, The Crow: Salvation was released direct-to-video after a limited theatrical run. Plot In Salt Lake City, Alex Corvis (Eric Mabius) is a death row convict framed for the murder of his girlfriend Lauren Randall (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). Three years later, he is sentenced to death in the electric chair. When he is asked for his last words, he says he still loves Lauren and that he is innocent; the guards do their job, and the switch is pulled. The generator is struck by lightning during the electrocution, overriding the electricity, and Alex suffers a painful, excruciating death. Soon after the execution, Alex is resurrected by a mystical crow and gifted with supernatural abilities so he can clear his name and avenge Lauren's death. Alex follows the crow to the Salt Lake City police department's evidence room, where he discovers that Lauren was killed by a group of corrupt cops. Alex has a vision of one of the killers, who has a scar on his arm matching one he saw just before his execution. Alex finds the knife that was used on Lauren, and then goes to her grave. There he meets with Lauren's sister Erin (Kirsten Dunst), who believes he is guilty. He tells her that he will prove his innocence, and disappears. Alex finds Tommy Leonard (David Stevens), a witness at the trial who was paid to give perjured testimony about Alex, and forces him to confess that the cops who murdered Lauren were Madden (Bruce McCarthy), Martin Toomey (Tim DeKay), Vincent Erlich (Dale Midkiff), Stan Roberts (Walton Goggins), and Phillip Dutton (Bill Mondy) and that they had paid him off to lie at the trial. Alex kills Dutton while the latter is attempting to rape two young girls he had pulled over on a bogus drunk-driving charge, leaving a blood stained pattern of a crow on the roof of Dutton's car. Next, Alex kills Erlich in a car crash, but inadvertently drops the list of names of the cops he's after, and Roberts and Toomey find it. Later, Alex gives Erin the registration from Erlich's car, which was leased from the D.E.R.T. Corporation, which lists Erin's family's home address. She then finds out that her father, Nathan Randall (William Atherton), is in business with the corrupt cops who killed Lauren and that Lauren had uncovered the truth, thus making her father indirectly responsible for her death. Nathan swears he did not intend for Lauren to die, but Erin nevertheless runs from him in horror. Alex goes to the place where Lauren died and finds Erin there. She blames herself for Lauren's murder, telling Alex that she had told the cops where to go to find Lauren, thinking that they would only arrest Alex. Using the Crow's mystical power, Alex shows Erin how Lauren fought off her attackers before she was murdered and how she should forgive herself. Erin goes home and finds that her father has committed suicide. Later, Alex meets with his lawyer, Peter Walsh, who tells him that Nathan owned a company called Westwind Building, which owns D.E.R.T., now revealed as a front for a drug smuggling operation. Lauren had witnessed John, the police captain (Fred Ward), killing a man at the Key Club; John then had Lauren killed. Madden kills Walsh and John kidnaps Erin. Alex starts a shootout at the Key Club in which he impales Roberts with a pipe he breaks off the ceiling, and kills the remaining police. Madden shows up and tries to kill Alex, but his shot accidentally shoots a broken gas pipe; the explosion kills Toomey. Alex walks out of the fire and sees an arm hanging out of the rubble with the scar on it. The next day, Alex finds out that the man with the scarred arm faked his death and is still at large. Alex goes to the police station to kill John. However, he is no longer invulnerable, as he "fulfilled his duty" after finding the arm with the scar. John stabs Alex several times. Before Alex dies, he starts to believe he is the one who murdered Lauren. Madden, John and John's secretary (Kelly Harren) pull Alex into John's secret taxidermy room, where Erin is tied up with her mouth stitched shut and Walsh's body (missing the left arm, which had been used to fake the scarred arm) is hanging from the ceiling. The crow picks up her locket and drops it next to Alex, who realizes the entire truth and comes back to life. Alex sets Erin free and kills both Madden and the secretary, and Erin runs out with John in pursuit. John captures Erin and tries to flee with her in his car, but the rejuvenated Alex catches up with them and exposes John's scarred arm. Alex and Erin take John to the same electric chair that Alex died in and strap him into it. Alex explains to John how electrocution is actually a painful method of execution, and John blusters that he will return from the dead like Alex did and kill Erin. Alex covers John's face with the mask while Erin throws the switch, and they watch him scream in agony as he is electrocuted. After a few minutes, John bursts into flames and dies while Erin and Alex leave his body to cremate on the chair. Outside the prison, Alex disappears to be reunited with Lauren, and Erin puts the necklace that bound him to her on his gravestone. Cast * Eric Mabius - Alex Corvis / The Crow * Kirsten Dunst - Erin Randall * Fred Ward - Police Captain John * Jodi Lyn O'Keefe - Lauren Randall * William Atherton - Nathan Randall * K. C. Clyde - Brad * Bruce McCarthy - Madden * Kelly Haren - Secretary * Debbie Fan - Barbara Chen * Dale Midkiff - Vincent Erlich * David Stevens - Tommy Leonard * Grant Shaud - Peter Walsh * Bill Mondy - Phillip Dutton * Walton Goggins - Stan Roberts * Britt Leary - Stacey * Tim DeKay - Martin Toomey Re-release On September 9, 2014, Lionsgate re-released the film on DVD. On October 7, 2014, it was released on DVD by Lionsgate in a triple feature edition with the other Crow sequels, The Crow: City of Angels and The Crow: Wicked Prayer. References External links * * Category:2000s action films Category:2000s fantasy films Category:American films Category:English-language films Category:Ghost films Category:Supernatural thriller films Category:Films directed by Bharat Nalluri Category:Vigilante films Category:The Crow films Category:Film scores by Marco Beltrami Category:Direct-to-video sequel films Category:Dimension Films films Category:Films shot in Salt Lake City